Print quality assessment and adjustment in thermal ink jet printers

Abstract: Color inkjet printers (10) commonly employ a plurality of print cartridges (22), usually either two or four, mounted in the printer carriage (20) to produce a full spectrum of colors. In order to optimize print quality, it is desirable to minimize the distance between a thermal inkjet printhead (26) and the media (90) that is being printed on. In a multiple printhead printer (10) only one printhead (26) can be the closest one to the media (90) due to the various mechanical tolerances of the printer (10). Since black text print quality is more sensitive to printhead-to-media distance than is color graphics quality, the overall print quality of both black text and color graphics is optimized by assuring that the black print cartridge (22) is closest to the media (90). Disclosed is a method for determining the relevant tolerances affecting printhead-to-media distance, analyzing the tolerance values to determine the range of tolerances and the greatest variation between one print cartridge and another, such that a determined percentage of the sampled print cartridges fall within this variation. This value is then used to offset the black print cartridge (22) carriage slot (24) so that the black print cartridge will be closest to the media (90).

Description: Field of the Invention This invention relates generally to the field of thermal inkjet printers and more particularly to improving black text quality in thermal inkjet printers using multiple black and color inkjet pen cartridges. Background of the Invention The present invention is related to U.S. patent application 08/056,639 filed April 30, 1993, now US-A-5 368 403, US-A-5 441 354 and EP-A-0 622 241; USSN 08/056,229 filed April 30, 1993, now US-A-5 399 039 and US-A-5 456 543 and EP-A-0 622 222; USSN 08/057,241 filed April 30, 1993, now EP-A-0 622 208 and EP 93120341.8 filed December 16, 1993, now EP-A-0 622 240; all of the European applications being comprised in the state of the art according to Article 54(3) EPC. Thermal inkjet printers have gained wide acceptance. These printers are described by W.J. Lloyd and H.T. Taub in "Ink Jet Devices," Chapter 13 of Output Hardcopy Devices (Ed. R.C. Durbeck and S. Sherr, San Diego: Academic Press, 1988) and U.S. Patents 4,490,728 and 4,313,684. Thermal inkjet printers produce high quality print, are compact and portable, and print quickly and quietly because only ink strikes the paper. An inkjet printer forms a printed image by printing a pattern of individual dots at particular locations of an array defined for the printing medium. The locations are conveniently visualized as being small dots in a rectilinear array. The locations are sometimes "dot locations", "dot positions", or pixels". Thus, the printing operation can be viewed as the filling of a pattern of dot locations with dots of ink. Inkjet printers print dots by ejecting very small drops of ink onto the print medium and typically include a movable carriage that supports one or more printheads each having ink ejecting nozzles. The carriage traverses over the surface of the print medium, and the nozzles are controlled to eject drops of ink at appropriate times pursuant to command of a microcomputer or other controller, wherein the timing of the application of the ink drops is intended to correspond to the pattern of pixels of the image being printed. The typical thermal inkjet printhead (i.e., the silicon substrate, structures built on the substrate, and connections to the substrate) uses liquid ink (i.e., dissolved colorants or pigments dispersed in a solvent). It has an array of precisely formed nozzles attached to a printhead substrate that incorporates an array of firing chambers which receive liquid ink from the ink reservoir. Each chamber has a thin-film resistor, known as a thermal inkjet firing chamber resistor, located opposite the nozzle so ink can collect between it and the nozzle. The firing of ink droplets is typically under the control of a microprocessor, the signals of which are conveyed by electrical traces to the resistor elements. When electric printing pulses heat the thermal inkjet firing chamber resistor, a small portion of the ink next to it vaporizes and ejects a drop of ink from the printhead. Properly arranged nozzles form a dot matrix pattern. Properly sequencing the operation of each nozzle causes characters or images to be printed upon the paper as the printhead moves past the paper. The ink cartridge containing the nozzles is moved repeatedly across the width of the medium to be printed upon. At each of a designated number of increments of this movement across the medium, each of the nozzles is caused either to eject ink or to refrain from ejecting ink according to the program output of the controlling microprocessor. Each completed movement across the medium can print a swath approximately as wide as the number of nozzles arranged in a column of the ink cartridge multiplied times the distance between nozzle centers. After each such completed movement or swath the medium is moved forward the width of the swath, and the ink cartridge begins the next swath. By proper selection and timing of the signals, the desired print is obtained on the medium. Color thermal inkjet printers commonly employ a plurality of print cartridges, usually either two or four, mounted in the printer carriage to produce a full spectrum of colors. In a printer with four cartridges, each print cartridge contains a different color ink, with the commonly used base colors being cyan, magenta, yellow, and black. In a printer with two cartridges, one cartridge usually contains black ink with the other cartridge being a tri-compartment cartridge containing the base color cyan, magenta and yellow inks. The base colors are produced on the media by depositing a drop of the required color onto a dot location, while secondary or shaded colors are formed by depositing multiple drops of different base color inks onto the same dot location, with the overprinting of two or more base colors producing the secondary colors according to well established optical principles. Print quality is one of the most important considerations of competition in the inkjet printer field. Inkjet printers must contend with the problem that in printing high density text or graphics on plain paper, the ink-saturated media is transformed into an unacceptably wavy or cockled sheet of paper. The ink used in thermal inkjet printing is typically a water based ink. When the liquid ink is deposited on paper, it absorbs into the cellulose fibers and causes the fibers to swell. As the cellulose fibers swell, they generate localized expansions, which, in turn, causes the paper to warp uncontrollably in these regions. This phenomenon is called paper cockle. This can cause a degradation of print quality due to uncontrolled printhead-to-media spacing, and can also cause the printed output to have a low quality appearance due to the paper cockle. Prior multiple printhead printers were designed so that each printhead was nominally the same distance from the media. The nominal distance is determined by adding up the various tolerances such as media cockle height, tolerance between the parts that define the position of the media and the carriage, tolerance from printhead location to printhead location within the carriage, and variation in the distance from the closest part of the printhead to the media to the surface on the print cartridge that locates the printhead in the carriage. These tolerances can require a nominal printhead to media distance that does not produce good print quality due to the increased effects of spray and errors in the nominal trajectory of the main drop. In recent products, this distance has been reduced by adjusting the carriage so that it is as close to the media as possible without the printheads scraping on the media. This solution does not yield optimum print quality for a black and color printer. Because the nominal printhead to media distance is identical, it can not be determined which print cartridge will be the closest to the media due to unavoidable random variations in the manufacture of the carriage and the printheads. In many cases the Black printhead will not be the closest printhead to the media. Black text print quality is more sensitive to printhead to media spacing than color graphics and images are, therefore having the black printhead further from the media than the color printhead(s) and all the printheads far enough from the media to prevent scraping will produce a lower print quality than could be achieved if it was known that the black printhead was always the limiting factor. Summary of the Invention In order to optimize print quality, it is desirable to minimize the distance between a thermal inkjet printhead and the media that is being printed on. This reduces print quality degradation by spray (small, stray drops of ink with different trajectories than the main drop) and errors in the nominal trajectory of the main drop. Color thermal inkjet printers commonly employ a plurality of print cartridges, usually either two or four, mounted in the printer carriage to produce a full spectrum of colors. In a multiple printhead printer, only one printhead can be the closest one to the media due to mechanical tolerances of the printer. The invention consists of a statistical treatment of tolerances to determine the range of pen to print media distances. The pen holding stall is then designed so that the datums referencing the black pen are made to allow that pen to nominally sit at the level corresponding to 99.99% (4 sigma) of the sample being lower than the other pens. This is achieved by taking the tolerance values and treating them statistically to determine the greatest variation between one pen and another, such that 99.99% of the sampled data falls within this variation. This value is then used to offset the datums of the black pen carriage slot so that for 99.99% of all printers, the black pen will be the lowest pen (hence closest to the paper) allowing the print quality to be maximized. The method of this invention guarantees that the black printhead in multiple cartridge color inkjet printer is the closest printhead to the media so that black text print quality will be optimized. Since black text print quality is more sensitive to printhead-to-media distance than is color graphics quality, the overall print quality of both black text and color graphics is optimized. Brief Description of the Drawings FIG. 1 is a perspective view showing a thermal inkjet printer incorporating the present invention. FIG. 2 is a perspective view of a thermal inkjet cartridge in accordance with this invention. FIG. 3 is a perspective view of a thermal inkjet printer carriage. FIG. 4 is a right side elevation view of the carriage of FIG. 3 showing the slider rod and slider bar supports and a portion of the media feed path of the printer of FIG. 1 partly in cross-section. FIG. 5 is an enlarged view of the slider shoe used on the carriage. FIG. 6 is a perspective view showing the underside and the right hand side of a printer carriage mountable for sliding movement on a slider rod and slider bar shown in phantom. FIG. 7 is a side view, partly in cross-section, showing the carriage assembly and the printhead-to-media distance adjustment mechanism. Detailed Description of the Preferred Embodiment FIG. 1 shows a color thermal inkjet printer 10 incorporating the present invention. In particular, inkjet printer 10 includes a movable carriage assembly 20 supported on slider rod 6 at the rear and a slider bar (not shown) at the front. Inkjet printer 10 also is provided with input tray 12 containing a number of sheets of paper or other suitable ink receiving medium 14, and an upper output tray 16 for receiving the printed media 18. As shown in FIG. 3, movable carriage 20 includes a plurality of individual cartridge receptacles 24 for receiving a respective plurality of thermal ink jet printer cartridges 22. FIG. 2 is a more detailed illustration of an inkjet pen cartridge 22 that stores ink and has a printhead 26 which when activated by firing pulses causes ink to be ejected from nozzles in the inkjet pen printhead 26. At the bottom of printhead 26 is an ecapsulant (not shown) which covers the wire leads at the edges of the printhead 26. The encapsulant is closer to the media than the nozzles in the printhead 26. The encapsulant thickness is referred to herein as the encapsulant distance. FIG. 3 illustrates four inkjet pen cartridges 22 installed in four ink cartridge receptacles 24 in carriage assembly 20 and with carriage cover 28 installed on top of carriage assembly 20. FIG. 4 shows carriage assembly 20 mounted for sliding movement on slider rod 6 and slider bar 8 which each extend transversely of the path of movement of the paper or other printing medium through the printer. In the embodiment shown, the carriage 20 is supported in the rear on slider rod 6 by two laterally spaced bushings 4 in the lower rear portion of the carriage 20 and in the front by slider bar 8 the upper surface of which comprises a carriage support surface 86 which engages the lower surface of the slider shoe 70 to support the front portion of the carriage 20. FIG. 6 shows a perspective view from the bottom front of carriage assembly 20. In the preferred embodiment, four separate inkjet cartridges 22 are provided for cyan, magenta, yellow and black inks. The carriage 20 comprises a molded plastic member comprised of five generally L-shaped parallel spaced plates 31, 33, 35, 37 and 39 which define four ink cartridge receptacles 24 therebetween. The ink cartridges 22 have printed circuits mounted on their back walls which receive electrical pulses from the printer carriage 20 to energize the printheads 26 (fig. 2) eject ink drops therefrom. The carriage 20 also has an integrally formed bottom wall 30 provided with four apertures 32, 34, 36 and 38 which receive the narrow snout portion of the ink cartridges 22 containing the printhead 26. Ink is ejected downwardly from nozzles (not shown) in printhead 26 onto the paper or other media. Referring to FIGS. 4, 5 and 6, each of the two upper slider bosses 62, 64 on the front wall of carriage 20 has a vertically extending web 67 and an outwardly extending horizontal flange 68 for the purpose of receiving replaceable shoe 70. Each of the flanges 68 has a slight indent (not shown) for reception of a projecting dimple 74 on two opposed flanges of the slider shoe 70 which comprises a channel shaped plastic section whereby slider shoe 70 can be slipped onto the horizontal flanges 68 of the upper bosses 62, 64 wherein the dimples 74 (FIG. 5) will retain the slider shoe 70 on the flanges 68 by engaging the indents 72 therein. The lower boss 66 on the front wall of the carriage 20 preferably has an upper contact lip 69 (FIG. 4) which does not extend the full length of the boss. The lip 69 and the lower surface of the wear slider shoe 70 are spaced a distance to closely slideably receive an upper flange of the slider bar 8. Referring to FIG. 4, the slider bar 8 preferably is fabricated from a single piece of sheet metal formed as a channel member having a relatively wide lower flange 80, a vertically extending connecting web 82 and a relatively narrow horizontally extending upper flange 84, the upper surface of which comprises a carriage support surface 86 which engages the lower surface of the slider shoe 70 to support the front portion of the carriage 20. Preferably, the carriage support surface 86 has a high molecular weight polyethylene coating thereon. This coating may be conveniently applied as a strip of tape although other means lubricating the support surface 86 of the slider bar can of course readily be devised by persons skilled in the art. Referring to FIG. 4, a small portion of the paper path through the printer 10 is illustrated. Each cartridge 22 is supported above the media 90 by the carriage assembly 20 and cartridge receptacle 24, such that printhead 26 is maintained an appropriate printhead-to-media distance from the media 90. The paper 90 is picked from the input tray 12 (FIG. 1) and driven into the paper path in the direction of arrow 92. The leading edge of the paper 90 is then fed into the nip between drive roller 106 and idler or pinch roller 104 and is driven into the print zone 110. A grill screen 108 supports the paper 90 as it is passed through the print zone 110 under printhead 26. After the paper passes through the print area 110 it encounters output roller 102, which propels the media 90 into the output tray 16 (FIG. 1). The drive roller 106 and output roller 102 maintain the print media 90 in a taut condition as it passes under the printhead 26, and advances in a direction perpendicular to the carriage 20 axis defined by slider rod 6. In the print zone 110, printing onto the upper surface of the media 90 occurs by stopping the drive and output rollers 106, 102, moving the carriage 20 along a swath, and firing the ink cartridges to print a desired swath on the media surface. After printing the desired swath on the media 90 is completed, the drive and output rollers 106, 102 are actuated and the media 90 is driven forward by a swath length, and swath printing commences again. Referring to FIG. 7, the slider rod 6 is supported at two midpoints by two stamped sheet metal parts called rod mounts 112. Each rod mount 112 has a dowel pin 114 located on its upper back portion which are inserted in a groove 116 in the upwardly extending portion on the left and right printer chassis 118. The front of the rod mounts 112 on the left and right of the printer rest on adjustment springs 120 which are held with adjustment screws 122. By turning adjustment screws 122 at each side of the printer chassis while moving the carriage 20 to the left and right of the print zone the printhead-to-media distance can be adjusted. The sum of all the tolerances associated with each individual printer part exceeds the tolerance on printhead-to-media distance required to obtain the desired text print quality. Hence, it is required to adjust the printhead-to-media distance on every printer. The establishment of the distance of the thermal inkjet printhead above the paper from a strictly print quality point of view would be to have the printhead nearly brush the paper in order to achieve the maximum text print quality. Setting the ink cartridge so that there is a 0.8 mm printhead to media spacing produces excellent black text print quality, since the black cartridge never completely leaves the edge of the page during text printing. But it is not possible to print graphics at this printhead-to media distance because the printheads often leaves the page during graphics printing and will catch the edge of the paper on their return. With respect to print quality, printhead-to media distances of 1.0 mm or less above the media are clearly excellent while printhead distances of 2.0 mm or more above the media are clearly unacceptable. The line of marginal acceptability occurs at approximately 1.8 mm. Based upon applicable tolerances in a thermal inkjet printer, a nominal printhead-to media distance of 1.6 mm above the media provides the maximum benefit with respect black text print quality while maintaining adequate clearance above the media during graphics printing. In accordance with the present invention, tolerances were analyzed by examining all sources of variance in the printer from the top plate to the media surface. Fourteen variables were identified for variation and statistical treatment through a Monte-Carlo analysis. The list of variables and the tolerance limits for the printer are set forth in Table 1. Independent Variables No. Name of variable Nominal Tolerance(+/-) V1 slider rod to chassis 0.00000000 0.2000 V2 xbar to chassis 0.00000000 0.2000 V3 slider rod straightness 0.00000000 0.05000 V4 xvar straightness 0.00000000 0.1000 V5 rod bushing thickness 0.00000000 0.1000 V6 xbar bushing pad thickness 0.00000000 0.05000 V7 zpad height 0.00000000 0.2000 V8 grill thickness 0.00000000 0.06000 V9 grill flatness 0.00000000 0.2500 V10 zpad to zpen 0.00000000 0.07500 V11 die thickness 0.00000000 0.03100 V12 die z location 0.00000000 0.05100 V13 nozzle plate to end bead 0.1810 0.1810 V14 adjustable z tolerance 0.00000000 0.2000 All tolerances were assumed to be normally distributed, with the tolerance limits representing the plus or minus 3 sigma value s expected in production. For this analysis, cockle was assumed to be a constant 0.8 mm everywhere on the paper. This was removed from statistical consideration since there is a very high likelihood of finding maximum cockle somewhere on the page during high density printing. Other tolerances were chosen on the conservative side, since all the variances were assumed to be normal. For example, encapsulant distance was assumed to range from 0 to 0.362 mm, and slider rod adjustment assumed to be plus or minus 0.1 mm, even though we expect both of these to vary considerably less in production. The results were that to ensure that 99.99% of the printers never experience the pen scraping the ink on the paper, the lowest pen must be 1.6 mm above the printing media. The variances were combined through system equations set forth in Table 2 into five results, labelled R1 - R5. Four of these are permutations of near/far equations with distance adjustment/no distance adjustment parameters. System Equations 1 Ysldpen = 30.44 2 Yxbarpen = 64.03 3 Rodwt = Yxbarpen/(Ysldpen + Yxbarpen) 4 Barwt = Ysldpen/(Ysldpen + Yxbarpen) 5 Rodsag = 0.028 6 Barsag = 0.016 7 Cockle = 0.8 8 Rodtols = rodwt*(V1 = V3 + V5 + Rodsag) 9 Bartols = Barwt*(V2 + V4 + V6 + Barsag) 10 Penndie = V10 + V11 + V12 + V13 11 Grill = V8 + V9 12 Zpad = V7 13 Zadjust = V14 14 Endbd = V13 15 R1 = Rodtols + Bartols + Grill + Penndie + Zpad + Cockle 16 R2 = Zadjust + Penndie + Cockle 17 R3 = 2*(Rodtols + Bartols + Grill + Penndie + Zpad) + Cockle -Endbd 18 I1 = 2*(Zadjust + Penndie) + V9 - Endbd 19 R4 = I1 + Rodwt*(V3 + Rodsag) + Barwt*(V4 + Barsag) + Cockle 20 Rodnbar = Rodwt*(V3 + Rodsag) + Barwt*(V4 + Barsag) 21 R5 = Zadjust + Penndie - Endbd + V9 The resulting variables are summarized below (adjustability means the slider rod 6 is adjusted to obtain the desired printhead-to-media distance): R1 = Non-adjustable tolerance stack for the encapsulant? just brushing the top of cockled paper. R2 = Adjustable tolerance stack for the encapsulant just brushing the top of cockled paper. R3 = Non-adjustable tolerance stack which represents on a case by case basis the farthest the top plate could be from the media for each random combination of tolerance values. R4 = Adjustable version of R3. R5 = Adjustable tolerance stack of variance from the lowest to the highest point for each case. Resulting variables No. Name of variable lower limit Upper limit R1 Nominal close -1.0000D+32 1.0000D+32 R2 Adjustable close -1.0000D+32 1.0000D+32 R3 Nominal far -1.0000D+32 1.0000D+32 R4 Adjustable far -1.0000D+32 1.0000D+32 R5 Gap to add to close tol -1.0000D+32 1.0000D+32 The near equations are used to determine the minimal printhead-to-media distance. Stated conversely, if a 3 sigma value for R1 or R2 are chosen as a nominal printhead-to-media distance, a 3 sigma machine would just brush the media. This was found by using nominals of 0.0 for all variables except encapsulant distance, and assuming that the 3 sigma case would be tangent to the cockled paper. The far equations then determined how far away the top plate could be on another part of the slider rod over a different section of heater grill with a new pen in the carriage printing on paper with no cockle (i.e. text printing). The fifth result calculated separately the variance in the distance change due to a different pen in an adjusted printhead-to media distance printer. Thus R1 or R2 can be used to set a nominal printhead-to media distance by choosing a 3 or 4 sigma value of all the tolerances adding to cause the printhead to rub the media. Then R3 or R4 will give the corresponding 3 sigma high distance, which would result in degraded text quality. R5 is to be used in combination with R2 for a result similar to R4. The difference is that R2 + R5 is slightly larger than R4, since it is the sum of two 3 sigma values rather than a 3 sigma of the sums. When looking at the statistical data, it is useful to keep in mind the meaning of the standard deviation in terms of percentages of the normally distributed population. Referring to statistical tables from textbooks, we can find: plus or minus 1 sigma => 68.26% of population plus or minus 2 sigma => 95.44% plus or minus 3 sigma => 99.74% plus or minus 4 sigma => 99.99% plus or minus 5 sigma => 100.00% In all results presented here, 10,000 random (but fit to normal distribution) combinations were generated, and the usual statistic operations performed on the entire population. 1) Assume that the printhead-to media distance can only be adjusted to plus or minus 0.2 mm (Actual adjustment is plus or minus 0.10), and that the rod straightness and elastic deflection are not calibrated out during adjustment. 3 sigma 4 sigma R1 1.43 1.57 Nominal printhead-to media distance R3 1.81 2.08 Maximum printhead-to media distance R2 1.27 1.37 Nominal printhead-to media distance R4 1.55 1.73 Maximum printhead-to media distance R5 0.361 0.473 Maximum delta distance Results R1 and R3 represent the condition where printhead-to media distance adjustment is not a possibility. In this case, in order to ensure that the printer experiences no printhead crashes or printhead smearing on cockle bumps, the nominal printhead-to media distance would need to be set at the four sigma value of 1.57 mm. This would be accomplished by adjusting the nominals on all the parts until the nominal encapsulant to media distance was 1.57 mm. Unfortunately, this would also mean that 50% of the printers would experience text quality commensurate with a printhead distance of at least 1.75 mm or more (assuming the encapsulant bead at 0.18 mm). If 1.5 mm is a limit of acceptability for printhead distance in terms of text PQ, then over half of our users will experience poor text quality. Results R2 and R4 assume that the printhead distance can be adjusted to within plus or minus 0.2 mm. At this adjustment tolerance, there would be too many printers experiencing printhead crashes at the 3 sigma value of 1.27 mm. To avoid this the 4 sigma printhead-to media distance of 1.37 mm was used. The maximum printhead-to media distance could reasonably be estimated at 1.6 mm, which is just beyond the acceptable 1.5 mm limit. Alternatively, one could add R5 at 3 sigma to R2 at 4 sigma to obtain the maximum (3 sigma) printhead-to media distance at 1.73 mm. 2) Assume that the printhead-to media distance can be adjusted to within plus or minus 0.1 mm, and that rod straightness and elastic deflection are calibrated out during printhead to media calibration. 3 sigma 4 sigma R2 1.21 1.29 Nominal printhead-to umedia distance R4 1.42 1.56 Maximum printhead-to media distance R5 0.286 0.382 Maximum delta distance R1 and R3 would not change from the first case, since only the adjustment tolerances have been changed. Although one could set the nominal printhead-to media distance at the 3 sigma nominal of 1.21, there would be some small number of printers which could scrape the encapsulant across some cockle bumps. To be safe then, one can use the 4 sigma value of 1.29. This means that some printers outside the 3 sigma band (0.26%) would scrape the media. Since a smaller number of printers will be doing the high density graphics which may cause cockle, the number of printers experiencing printhead scrapes of the media should be extremely small. The maximum printhead distance for text print quality should always be within the 4 sigma R4 value of 1.56 mm, or R2 4 sigma + R5 3 sigma = 1.58. If one set the nominal printhead-to-media distance at 1.3 mm, 95% of the printers (2 sigma) will see printhead-to media distances of 1.50 or lower. Thus, all printers will have print quality which is at the very least acceptable. It must be certain that at no time do the printheads scrape any part of the chassis, specifically the side paper hold-downs, which would cause a hard failure. This can be checked by doing an arithmetic worst case from the nominal printhead-to media distance. The assumed tolerance on the adjustment is plus or minus 0.1, the worst case pen tolerances (bottom datum(zpad), surface die location, die thickness and end bead) add up to 0.34 mm. This totals 0.44 mm which must be taken from the nominal 1.3 mm printhead-to-media distance. But since the printhead-to-media distance is calibrated by using a nominal media thickness (0.07 mm) this should be added to the printhead-to-media distance to obtain the printhead-to-grill distance. This leaves 0.9 mm as the maximum distance the side paper hold-downs may be above the grill. The current side paper hold-down thickness is 0.56 mm, so by algebraic worst case tolerance analysis the printheads will not contact the side paper hold-downs for any machine built within specification tolerances. Because of the above tolerance analysis indicates 1.3 mm as an optimal printhead-to-media distance the same black pen was used to generate more text samples at 1.2 mm, 1.3 mm and 1.4 mm. The distance adjustment was performed to within plus or minus 0.05 mm. The increase in spray appears to be monotonically increasing with respect to printhead distance and the limit of acceptability appears to be 1.5 mm. Because the spray begins to increase dramatically at printhead-to-media distances above 1.5 mm, one should make every effort to ensure that the majority of our users have printhead-to-media distances of 1.5 mm or less. At a printhead-to-media distance of 1.4 mm, 95% will still have printhead-to-media distances of 1.6 mm or less (68% are at 1.5 mm or less). However, moving to nominal printhead-to media distances greater than 1.4 mm begins to quickly degrade text quality for a majority of users. Setting the printhead-to-media distance at 1.3 mm significantly improves text print quality, while retaining graphics quality. The invention consists of a statistical treatment of tolerances to determine the range of printhead-to-media distances. The pen carriage receptacle is then designed so that the datums referencing the black pen are made to allow that pen to nominally sit at the level corresponding to 99.99% (4 sigma) of the sample being lower than the other pens. This is achieved by taking the tolerance values (for example, those of Table 4), and treating them statistically to determine the greatest variation between one pen and another, such that 99.99% of the sampled data falls within this variation. This value is then used to offset the datums of the black pen carriage slot so that for 99.99% of all printers, the black pen will be the lowest pen (hence closest to the paper) allowing the print quality to be maximized. Variable Nominal value (mm) Tolerance(+/-) (mm) Distribution Datum tolerance across width of carriage 0 0.05 normal Insertion repeatability of any other color pen 0 0.015 normal Insertion repeatability of Black pen 0 0.015 normal Pen datum to orifice plate of any other color pen 0 0.075 normal Pen datum to orifice plate of Black pen 0 0.075 normal Orifice plate to encapsulant of any other color pen 0.1810 0.1810 normal Orifice plate to encapsulant Black pen 0.1810 0.1810 normal A cursory look at the tolerance variation (using a root-sum of the squares approach) and the above numbers yields 0.3 as the ideal offset of the black pen datum with respect tot he nominal location of all the other pens. There are no other known color ink-jet printers which have been designed for common printing media (plain paper, copier paper, recycled paper). The advantage of this system is to provide enhanced print quality on a large range of commonly available printing media which were previously unusable for ink-jet printers. By offsetting the black printhead towards the media relative to the color printheads by the amount of the accumulated tolerances between the printheads in the direction of the media, it is possible to guarantee that the black printhead is always closer to, or at the same distance from the media as the color printheads. The printhead-to-media distance is then adjusted relative to the carriage feature that positions the black printhead. Since the black print quality is more sensitive to printhead to media distance than color image quality is, overall output quality is optimized.

Claims: A method for improving black text printing and color graphics printing on media in a color inkjet printer (10), comprising the steps of: determining relevant tolerances of the printer which affect pen-to-media distances; analyzing the tolerances obtained from said determining step to indicate a range of pen-to-media distances and a largest pen-to-media distance variation between pens; and adjusting the pen-to-media distance of a black pen cartridge based on the results of said determining and analyzing stops to assure that the black pen cartridge (22) is the closest pen to the print media. The method of claim 1 wherein said analyzing step includes combining the tolerances into five variables R1-R5. The method of claim 2 wherein said analyzing step includes performing a statistical analysis of the variables R1-R5. The method of claim 3 wherein said statistical analysis includes analyzing the variables R1-R5 based upon a normal distribution. The method of claim 1 wherein said adjusting step includes decreasing the black pen-to-media distance by an amount equal to the largest variation between pens. The method of claim 1 wherein said adjusting step includes modifying the black pen carriage slot (24) so that the black pen is the smallest pen-to-media distance. A method for improving black text printing and color graphics printing on media in a color inkjet printer (10), comprising the steps of: determining relevant tolerances of the printer which affect pen-to-media distances; combining the tolerances into five variables R1 - R5; performing a statistical analysis of the variables based upon a normal distribution to indicate a range of pen-to-media distances and a largest pen-to-media distance variation between pens; and adjusting the pen-to-media distance of a black pen cartridge based on the results of said determining and analyzing steps to assure that the black pen cartridge (22) is the closest pen to the print media. The method of claim 7 further including after said performing step the step of setting a nominal pen-to-media distance based on R1 and R2. The method of claim 8 wherein said adjusting step includes decreasing the black pen-to-media dietance from the nominal distance by an amount equal to the largest pen-to-media distance variation between pens. The method of claim 9 wherein said adjusting step includes modifying the black pen carriage receptacle (24) to decrease the black pen-to-media distance from the nominal. distance by an amount equal to the largest pen-to-media distance variation between pens.

Inventors: CLEVELAND LANCE, MOVAGHAR ABDOLREZA, RHOADS WISTAR W, CLEVELAND, LANCE, MOVAGHAR, ABDOLREZA, RHOADS, WISTAR W.
Applicants: HEWLETT PACKARD CO, HEWLETT-PACKARD COMPANY
Application year: 1994
Main classification: B41J25
IPC codes: B41J2, B41J25